Drinking Alone Together
by I M Sterling
Summary: Severus Snape and Hermione Granger walk into a bar... Rated M for adult situations rather than smut.
_**AN: I am a bad, bad girl. I know I owe you all another chapter of Champion…and I'm working on it, I swear…but this popped into my head and it had to come out. Rated M just because.**_

He looked up from his firewhiskey with a sharp comment on the tip of his tongue when he felt another body slide into the empty space beside him at the bar, but changed his mind when he recognized the bushy haired vixen that had dared to invade his space.

"I'll have two of whatever he's having."

He recognized, even in his slightly inebriated state, that she was in no state to encounter a tirade from her former potions professor, so he just nodded and turned his attention back to the drink in his hand. It would have stayed that way too, if a stream of would be lotharios had not insisted on invading his space, attempting to 'pick up' the witch who had recently, and very publicly ended a three year long engagement to that mental midget, Ronald Weasley.

He'd heard the sordid tale at breakfast the day that Narcissa had informed him gently that she and Lucius were going to 'try again'.

He took a long burning drink.

It wasn't that he expected anything less of course. Lucius and Narcissa had taken the traditional unbreakable vows at the time of their wedding. Divorce was not an option, and it wasn't like he wished to marry her…but they'd had something…

Granted, a great deal of it had been gratitude on her part and the lingering wisps of what had once been a bit of a mad crush on his part…and for the first time in his adult life, he was free to do as he liked, with who he liked, with no worry that it would lead to their untimely demise.

And the woman had shagged like…well like nothing Severus had ever encountered. Granted, he'd never taken a sex-starved pureblood matriarch before, but if that was the standard, he was going to find another one, and very soon…

"I said sod off."

The Granger girl had pulled her wand on the latest prat that was trying to slobber all over her. Severus sneered at the boy. "Haven't you anything better to do?" He backed off, blubbering.

Granger sighed and downed her drink like a seasoned pro, arousing a slight admiration in Severus. "I'm sorry about that. They seem to think that I'm here for the company and not the moderately priced liquor."

Which was why he was drinking here instead of in his own quiet rooms.

He raised a brow. "Indeed." He stood. "Come along. Tom keeps a room in the back for VIPs and he's offered it to me a dozen times. Apparently I frighten off his customers when left to my own devices. If you like we can drown our sorrows alone together. "

She wasn't entirely sober, but the idea obviously appealed to her.

He caught the bar keep's eye and jerked his head back toward the room. Tom nodded and watched him disappear with the best third of the Golden Trio.

There was a bottle of decent grade firewhiskey between two chairs when he opened the door. "Tom is serious about keeping me away from the customers."

"I can't imagine why."

"There is some chance I turned one of them into a frog last and threatened to use him in a potion."

A laugh burst from her lips. He lit his own lips twitch, slightly.

She filled two glasses. "To not turning dunderheads into reptiles, amphibians, or mollusks…at least not in front of witnesses."

He took his glass and toasted it in her general direction.

"I assume that you are drowning your sorrows for your lost love."

"Drowning my sorrows for wasting three bloody years with that two-faced, red-headed, troglodyte."

Severus smirked. The witch was half-smashed and still using three syllable words in proper context.

She gestured with her glass. "I heard from Draco that Narcissa was going back to her prat of a husband."

He refilled his drink. "The more fool she."

"That's no lie. Unbreakable vows only last until one of you is dead."

Vicious.

He liked it.

"What would the press think if they heard their precious Gryffindor Princess say8ing such a thing?"

She smirked wickedly. "They'd find a way to blame you no doubt. It seems to be their standard answer for everything." She growled the last bit, clearly annoyed with their treatment of him.

He shrugged. "I couldn't possibly care less. I can't see myself beating off fan girls like Potter."

She laughed. "He doesn't. Ginny does that. I suppose if any break down the door I'll be honor bound to hex them to defend your honor."

"It's hardly worth defending, but if some tramp gets past the wards, feel free to hex her."

"Not planning to pick up some toothsome young thing to show Narcissa what she's going to be missing?"

Severus smirked. "It's hardly a worthy idea for someone of my advanced years to work to make a witch jealous…"

"You are a better man than me." She took another long drink. "If Malfoy were still single, I'd have him tied to my bed and send pictures to Ron."

Severus nearly choked on his drink. "Excuse me?"

She gave him a lazy grin. "Well, hardly anyone would bother him more."

"And tying him to the bed would be…"

She blushed. Fine time for the witch to do that, well after she'd aroused his…interest with her salacious comment. "Well, honestly, Draco never did it for me, so I'd have to have a little help to get in the mood…dominating him would probably do it for me nicely."

"Really?"

She took another long drink. "It's not an every night thing, but I'm not against a little slap and tickle…and it's something that Ron never liked about me. I have to admit that there's a part of me that would love to rub his nose in it, just a bit."

His interest was fully aroused now, in fact, it was becoming slightly uncomfortable.

She saw him move slightly, and her eyes widened.

His voice dipped into a low, commanding tone. "Do not apologize, if that's what you were about to do."

She shut her mouth and looked down at her drink, but her eyes were drawn back to him almost immediately.

"Would you like to drink alone together somewhere else?"


End file.
